A major winter storm slammed Florida on Wednesday and left record snowfall in its icy wake alongside highway closures including more than 100 miles of the nation’s southernmost interstate, I-10, in Louisiana and Florida.
On Tuesday evening, widespread reports of 5-12 inches of snow were reported in and around Pensacola alone.
Hundreds of flights remain grounded at multiple airports as authorities warn snowfall could smash century-old records.
A private plane parks after snowfall on January 22, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida. The National Weather Service has placed northern Florida under a winter storm warning and some are predicting the largest Gulf snow and ice storm in more than 100 years. (Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images)
FOX 10 reports Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency ahead of the wintry mess and said for communities in the Panhandle, the frigid outcomes could defy all previous natural winter weather events.
The Sunshine State’s all-time greatest snowfall was four inches in Milton, outside of Pensacola, on March 6, 1954, which was eclipsed on Tuesday by the measurements in the same area.
A broad weather warning has been issued that includes big cities like Jacksonville, Florida, which expect to see snow, sleet and accumulating ice across the day and into the early evening.
The Jacksonville International Airport closed because of the weather Tuesday evening and said it planned to reopen on advice of clearing weather.
Schools canceled classes, and government offices were closed.
A car drives on snow after snowfall on January 22, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida. The National Weather Service has placed northern Florida under a winter storm warning and some are predicting the largest Gulf snow and ice storm in more than 100 years. (Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images)
AP reports dangerous below-freezing temperatures with even colder wind chills were expected to last over much of the week in the region.
Authorities say three people have died in the cold weather. The heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain also reached into the Deep South as a blast of Arctic air plunged much of the Midwest and the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.
Ahead of the storm, governors in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida — the Sunshine State — declared states of emergency and many school systems canceled in-school activities Tuesday and Wednesday.
